Sugary Truth
by Squeeka Cuomo
Summary: At this exact moment, Ned was nine years, two weeks, fourteen days, and thirty-nine minutes old. As the thirty-nine minutes became forty, the young boy realized that he did not like holiday-themed treats. - Ned/Olive


**Sugary Truth**

At this exact moment, Ned was nine years, two weeks, fourteen days, and thirty-nine minutes old. As the thirty-nine minutes became forty, the young boy realized that he did not like holiday-themed treats. Sitting at his desk, the boy waited without hope as his classmates passed around their Valentines. Since the Longburrow School for Boys was a school for boys, there were no little cards with hearts on them. Instead, the boys passed around Valentine candy that their mothers had sent for the exchange.

A week and four days ago, the school's secretary had sent a flyer to the mother of every student requesting that they send their child a bag of something sweet to pass around. But as Ned's mother was dead and his father content with a new family, he had been sent nothing to give out. And so, he sat quietly with his hands folded on top of his desk while everyone else traded their sugary treats.

The only person who bothered to look at Ned during the festivities was his teacher, Mrs. Nicks. Setting a single heart-shaped piece of chocolate covered in red foil on his desk, she put one sympathetic hand on his shoulder. Leaning over slightly, she spoke to him in as kind a voice as possible, "maybe next year." Moving onto the next desk, the elderly woman set down another piece of chocolate identical to the one he had just received.

It was the only Valentine he would receive that year. And in his years at the Longburrow School for Boys, Mrs. Nicks remained his one and only Valentine.

The facts were these: Ned would come to dislike most holidays for various reasons. But he would come to particularly dislike Valentine's Day for its overabundance of heart-shaped gestures and the insincerity behind them. He would come to understand the joy that these symbols held for others, but he would refuse to take part in them himself.

Until a very blonde and very perky waitress shared her similar views on the holiday that is.

At this very moment, Olive Snook was twenty-nine years, three months, one week, six days, and twenty-one minutes old. Peering through the oven window, the blonde smiled proudly as her pie seemed to be setting up. It was a recipe she'd come up with on her own, and while it wasn't overly inventive, the woman was still worried that it would turn into an overly sweet fruit soup.

Turning back to the baking stone the pie-maker usually stood behind, the waitress began cleaning up her mess. Using a wet cloth to wipe away the excess flour and sugary juices from the fruits she used, Olive hummed softly to herself as Digby waited patiently for her to drop a tasty morsel. Noticing the golden retriever looking up at her expectantly, the waitress grabbed a few chalky candy hearts from a bowl on the counter. Carefully crouching down to let the dog lick the sweet treats from her palm, she didn't notice the man staring over the counter at her.

"Olive?"

Startled by the voice, the crouching woman (and Digby whom she'd instinctively grabbed on to) toppled over in mess of limbs and paws. Flat on her stomach with the golden retriever still in a headlock, Olive grumbled in pain before looking up at Ned.

"Don't cha' know it's rude to sneak up on a lady at night?" Finally releasing the squirming dog, the blonde pushed herself up as the pie-make continued to stare at her.

"What are you doing here this late?" Placing his hands on the counter, the man ignored her scolding as well as her struggle to stand up.

"I… forgot to clean off your baking area," she lied. From the wet rag to the flour, it seemed true enough but the resounding ding of the oven echoing through the kitchen gave her away. Desperately trying to keep her cheeks from coloring, Olive scurried over to the large ovens to remove her pie. "Would ya' look at that! A mystery pie! Digby, have you learned how to bake?"

Digby, who had gotten as far away from the blonde as possible once he'd been released, just stared at her. Normally, he was willing to take the rap for one of her crazy schemes. But not tonight. Not after she'd crushed him and almost yanked off one of his ears. This time she could find her own way out of the mess she'd created.

Taken aback by the golden retriever's unwillingness to help her, the waitress slid her pie into the freezer before turning back to Ned. His sweet face was twisted into an expression of confusion and curiosity. Neither emotion was particularly bad, but she preferred to see the pie-maker smiling his gentle, innocent smile. More than a little worried that he would inquire about her pie, the waitress asked the man why he was out so late. Especially since he never stuck around to close up the shop.

"Umh. I was… looking for Digby," he lied. His lie, however, was not exposed by traitorous baking appliances. Even Digby kept his head down and his mouth shut. Even though they were the best and closest of friends, both the dog and pie-maker understood that they could never touch. So, despite his love for Ned, the golden retriever had been looking forward to some time with the very affectionate blonde. Not only would she cuddle and pet him, but Olive would feed him the treats that Ned always seemed to shun.

"Oh. Well, he's here." For just a moment she'd hoped that Ned had come to see her. It was ridiculous, but she couldn't help the quickened beating of her heart that she only ever experienced when he was around. Staring at the man as he looked for the dog, she felt the disappointment that she knew far too well begin to fill her chest.

As the woman continued to clean up her mess, Olive wished that the pie-maker would just gather up Digby and his things and leave. She didn't need any more disappointment. Especially not on Valentine's Eve just after she'd finished baking her pie.

But instead of leaving, the man placed his elbows on the large baking stone as if he were settling in to stay for a while. Any other day, she'd have been dancing a silent jig at having Ned all to herself in the middle of the night. But not tonight. She could tell by the tortured look on his face that something was wrong. But, before she could ask him what was going on, Ned blurted out the real cause of his midnight wanderings.

"I didn't buy Chuck anything for Valentine's Day."

At that exact moment, Olive Snook would have given anything for the floor beneath her feet to open up and swallow her whole. It just wasn't fair. He could just as easily have talked to Emerson about this. Why did the pie-maker's happiness with another woman have to be thrown in her face at every possible moment?

"Oh?" What she really wanted to say was 'And this is my problem why?' or any variation thereof. But she didn't. Instead, she smiled as much of a smile as she could manage as she continued to scrub the same spot she'd been working away at for the past few minutes.

"…Yeah."

Though she wanted to be angry, she just couldn't. The way the corners of his mouth turned down and the way his hair fell into his sad eyes drained the hurt and anger from every cell of her body. She may have been the president (and only member) of the "I Hate Chuck and Ned and Their Bliss" club but she couldn't stand to see the man she loved upset. In the end, all Olive wanted was for him to be happy.

And so, she would do whatever she could to try and turn his frown upside down. Grabbing the partially cool pie from the freezer, Olive placed it on the extremely clean baking stone. Pulling a bowl of whipped cream towards her, the blonde summoned up her cheeriest voice. "So tell me, why haven't you loaded your new friend down with flowers, chocolates, and jewels?" Pulling the spatula through the topping, the woman ladled a liberal amount of cream onto the smooth surface of the pie as she waited for his response.

Olive didn't even need to look up from her partially frosted pie to know the look that was crossing the pie-maker's face. From where she was standing, she could almost feel the hopeless-ness engulfing him. She may be the foremost Ned-ologist in the area, but she didn't really know anything about his childhood. Except that it had been less than happy. She couldn't help but think that much like Halloween, Valentine's Day would also be a problem for some mystery childhood reason. And it was a reason that would probably always remain a secret. She'd tried getting information out of him before, and she'd quickly realized it was useless. All she could was take her cue from him.

"If you had a boyfriend, what would you want for Valentine's Day?"

She knew that it was an innocent question, but she couldn't help feeling slightly hurt. After all, how could anyone feel good abut themselves after being asked that by the person who held their heart in heir hands?

Adding a final swirl to the rich cream covering the pie, Olive decided that this was an interesting opportunity. And quite possibly, a chance to offer a part of herself to the pie-maker that he'd never seen before. No, she wouldn't tell Ned how her heart beat only for him. But, she could tell him other things about… her heart. "Flowers, jewels, candy… These things don't matter. After all, they don't really mean anything." Reaching into the bowl of chalky candy hearts, Olive picked up a few and sprinkled them over the top of the pie. Focusing on the perfectly frosted confection, Olive couldn't bring herself to look at Ned as she almost whispered the next part. "Not to me anyway."

Looking up at Ned, she couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed by the shock on his face. But as she's already thrown herself out there, there was no turning back. "I'd want _him_ to come up with something special for me. Something he thought that I'd like or that reminded him of me."

Slicing out a generous helping of the pie, Olive carefully placed it on a plate so that it didn't fall over. Setting the treat in front of Ned, the blonde handed the man a fork as she walked towards the refrigerator for a bottle of milk. "But really, all that matters is that we're together."

Carefully pouring out a large glass of milk, the waitress placed the cold drink next to the plate she'd so expertly served. Making her way back to the freezer with the partially empty bottle in hand, Olive's eyes caught the clock. "Look at that, it's after midnight. I think I'm gonna head home. We're sure to be busy tomorrow. With Valentine's Day and all." Picking up what remained of the pie, her purse, and Digby's leash, the blonde headed towards the door separating the kitchen from the dining room.

But before she could push her way through, Ned's soft voice stopped her. "This is good. What is it?"

It wasn't a midnight profession of a long-harbored love he'd just realized because of her answer. It also wasn't a plan to leave Chuck and elope with her. It was, however, one of the nicest things he'd ever said to her.

Pausing with her hand on the door to the dining room, Olive looked at the curve of Ned's back and at the tiny hairs near the nape of his neck curving over his collar. "It's Berry Cream. I used strawberries and raspberries. It's… my own recipe."

She knew that he wouldn't respond and that the moment she'd just shared with him was over. As usual, he was wrapped up in thoughts of who knows what. Watching him take another bite of her pie, she could only hope that he noticed the tiny green heart reading, "Be Mine" that she'd placed right in the middle of his slice.

Pushing open the door, Olive called Digby to her side. Taking one last look at the man she loved, the blonde smiled softly. Unless someone smacked him and told him that she was talking about what she wanted, Ned would never put the two together.

But that was ok.

At least he knew what was important to her. With Digby looking up at her expectantly, the woman wished Ned a happy Valentine's Day before heading into the dining room with the golden retriever at her heels. There was so much more she wanted to say, but for the sake of everyone involved, she would keep her mouth shut. She could only hope that the pie would say what she could not.

With Digby at her side, the blonde stroked his head gently as she thought of Ned standing in the kitchen alone. She wanted to stay and watch him eat every last bite of the pie she'd served him. And she wanted to be able to offer him another one. But she knew that sticking around would get her nowhere. The fact that he'd asked her opinion on something was a huge step forward, and she didn't want to end up accidentally taking two steps back so she'd left. Halfway through the diner and safely out of earshot, Olive Snook softly whispered the truth behind her midnight visit to The Pie Hole. "I made it for you."

The facts were these: as Ned slowly ate the pie Olive had given him, his teeth crunched on a hard piece of something. It was only then that he noticed the tiny candy hearts sprinkled over the pie. Staring at a green one reading "Be Mine", he felt the bitterness of his childhood slowly creep up on him. It was, however, slightly more bearable. Plucking the treat off of the pie and popping it in his mouth, the pie-maker let the sugar dissolve on his tongue as he thought of Olive Snook and her Valentine's wish. It didn't really change how he felt about the holiday, but now he knew that there was something beyond the false sentimentality of little cards and heart-shaped chocolates that even he could understand. He also realized that there was more to his waitress than low cut dresses and a high-pitched giggle. Much like Valentine's Day, he was coming to see his waitress in a whole new light.

**Squeeka Cuomo's Note's**

- Happy Valentine's Day everyone! May you all enjoy lots and lots of the tasty treats that make your tummies the happiest.

- Katie, my beta… thank you for keeping me from totally trashing this. I really appreciate all of your comments, help and dedication. :duck:


End file.
